The Randfontein community is up in arms because they believe they are living in unhealthy conditions.
For four days, two residents – one of them runs a day care – had sewage running into and in front of their properties. The residents, who wish to stay anonymous, told the Herald that they had to walk through sewage to access their yards.
“I feel this is becoming a health hazard, that is why we are in the process of moving to another town,” said one resident.
The resident said their property is being damaged as it was not the first time the problem occurred.
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The problems started about a month ago when the manhole cover was stolen. The heavy rains of the past two weeks caused the manhole to fill up and sewage to overflow. The residents reported the issue numerous times, but did not get any feedback from the municipality. The lack of response caused the desperate homeowners to go the municipal offices on Monday, 9 October to report the problem in person, but the municipal workers only came out two days later to fix the problem.
“The municipality told me that the infrastructure of R’tein is growing,” said the resident.
The day care centre owner told the Herald they are concerned about the children’s health, and kept them indoors until the problem was solved.
Read more:Â Boy, 8, with heart issue exposed to sewage
While cleaning up the sewage, municipal workers told the Herald that they were on a very tight schedule as they only have one truck available for work in the residential areas. They said that every morning they get a list of jobs to be done, and they work according to that list.
“The manhole covers are becoming a big problem. People steal them and sell them to the scrapyards,” said Siphelo Magezi.
Although the sewage has been cleared, the manhole at the entrance of the day care is still without its cover. This could have serious consequences if a child is injured.
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